Paul The Apostle: The Triulnph of God in Life and Thought

463 Pages·1984·34.559 MB·English

by  J Beker (Johan Christiaan Beker)

J.
CHRISTIAAN BEKER .
T JE
POSTLE
The Triumph of God in Life
and Thought
With a new preface by the author
J.
CHRISTIAAN BEKER
T JE
r O S T L E
The Triulnph of God in Life
and Thought
With a new preface by the author
rAUL
THE
ArOSTLE
The Triumph of God in Life and Thought
J.
Christiaan ~eker
FORTRESS PRESS PHILADELPHIA
Unless otherwise noted, biblical quotations are from the Revised Standard
Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1946, 1952, © 1971, 1973 by the Division
of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in
the United States of America, and are used by permission.
COPYRIGHT © 1980 BY foRTRESS PRESS
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the copyright owner.
First paperback edition 1984
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Beker, Johan Christiaan, 1924-
Paul the apostle.
Bibliography: p.
,Includes mdexes.
, 1. Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul-Theology.
2. Bible N.T. Epistles of Paul-Hermeneutics.
I. Title.
BS2651.B44 230' .092 '4 79-8904
ISBN 0-8006-1811-4
1078D84 Printed in the United States of America 1-1811
To Wilfred
in commemoration of fifty years
of friendship
and to Ada
a constant support in all seasons
Contents
Preface
lX
Preface to the First Paperback Edition
Xlll
PART ONE
Introduction
1. Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles 3
2. The Character of Paul's Thought 11
PART TWO
The Contingency of the Gospel
3. Contingency and Coherence in Paul's Letters 23
4. Contextual Interpretation I: Galatians 37
5. Contextual Interpretation II: The Structure and Argument
of Romans 59
6. Contextual Theology in Romans and Galatians 94
7. Tradition and Gospel 109
PART THREE
The Coherence of the Gospel
8. Paul's Apocalyptic Theology: Apocalyptic and the
Resurrection of Christ 135
9. The Scandal of the Cross 182
10. The Dilemma of Sin and Death: Equivalent or Disparate
Powers? 213
11. The Enigma of the Law: Instrument of God or Servant of Sin? 235
12. The Gift and the Demand of Salvation 255
13. The Responsibility of Life in Christ 272
14. The Church as the Dawning of the New Age 303
15. The Destiny of Israel 328
PART FOUR
Conclusion
16. The Triumph of God 351
Vll
viii CONTENTS
Abbreviations 369
Notes 371
Bibliography of Works Cited 399
Indexes
Index of Passages Cited 421
Index of Names 447
Preface
Paul has been a controversial figure throughout history and has
provoked extreme reactions of admiration and dislike. The complexity of
his thought is in no small way responsible for this.
However, when we turn to the world of scholarship for a more
balanced judgment, we encounter similar extremes. The history of inter
pretation presents us with a bewildering variety of evaluations: portraits
of Paul the rationalist and systematic theologian, and ofP aul the mystic or
religious genius, have claimed equal validity. Champions of a pervasive
Hellenistic influence on Paul have vied with those who claim his purely
Jewish provenance.
Although in recent years the sharp alternatives have been reduced to a
broader consensus, the nature of Paul's thought and its relevance for the
variety of human circumstance in his mission field have not been suffi
ciently clarified. Too often analyses of various segments of Paul's thought
have been made to appear as if they comprehend the whole of Paul; and
too often the "original" of Paul's thought has been distorted for the sake
of modern relevance and instant edification.
This study attempts to move toward an understanding of "the whole
Paul" by focusing on two fundamental questions. What is the coherent
theme of Paul's thought and what is the texture of his hermeneutic?
I posit the triumph of God as the coherent theme of Paul's gospel; that
is, the hope in the dawning victory of God and in the imminent
redemption of the created order, which he has inaugurated in Christ.
Moreover, I claim that Paul's hermeneutic translates the apocalyptic theme
of the gospel into the contingent particularities of the human situation.
Paul's ability to correlate the consistent theme of the gospel and its
contingent relevance constitutes his unique achievement in the history of
early Christian thought.
Paul neither imposes a doctrinal system on his hearers nor compromises
the truth of the gospel for the sake of strategic victories nor celebrates
spiritual immediacy at the price ofc onsistency.
The book attempts throughout to make the historical understanding of
Paul hermeneutically relevant for our own theological situation. For not
IX
x PREFACE
only Paul's method of doing theology but also his apocalyptic-cosmic
theme should be able to stimulate a fresh interpretation of the gospel in
our day-all the more so when we recall the efforts of Third World
theologians to conceive of theology as praxis and when we reflect on the
need for a gospel and ethic that encompass God's redemptive plan for the
whole created order and thus give Christian world-responsibility a new
urgency.
Part One (Chapters 1 and 2) introduces Paul the apostle and the
character of his thought. It sets the stage for Parts Two and Three, which
delineate the twofold theme of the study, the coherence and contingency
of Paul's gospel. To be sure, my outline is more rigid than the actual
content of the chapters themselves. I have attempted to correlate the theme
of contingency and coherence throughout the book but considered it
necessary to accentuate these two themes separately in Parts Two and
Three.
Moreover, a thesis always exaggerates. It would be an error to suppose
that Paul consistently integrates the coherent theme of the gospel and its
contingent interpretation. There are clearly instances where the situational
demands suppress the apocalyptic theme of the gospel (e.g., Galatians), or
where the theme seems to impose itself on the situation (e.g., 1 Corinthians
15). However, notwithstanding Paul's occasional inconsistencies, his
hermeneutical intent is clear.
Because Paul's letters are substitutes for his personal presence in the
churches, they testify to the concrete appeal of the gospel for particular
occasions (Chapter 3).
The letters to the Galatians and Romans-often considered to be
timeless construals of Paul's dogmatic thought-demonstrate his interpre
tive ability to proclaim the one truth of the gospel according to the
argumentative needs of the hour (Chapters 4-6). And Paul's interpretation
of the tradition shows this from another angle: amid the variety of
theological traditions in the early church, he is able to grasp the basic truth
of the gospel without minimizing its situational relevance (Chapter 7).
Part Three turns to the question of the coherent theme of Paul's gospel
and locates it in his apocalyptic world view, which is both affirmed and
modified by the resurrection of Christ (Chapter 8). The apocalyptic world
view determines as well Paul's view of the death of Christ (Chapter 9). At
first glance, Chapters 10 and 11 seem to disrupt the flow of the argument.
However, the defeat of the apocalyptic powers in the death and resurrec
tion of Christ (Chapters 8 and 9) necessitates a critical look at the complex
function of two power structures: the powers of death and the law. For